Dr. Alimantado

Dr. Alimantado

Also known as: Alimantado, Doctor Alimantado, Winston Cool, Winston Prince

Dr Alimantado (born Winston James Thompson; 1952), also known as The Ital Surgeon, is a Jamaican reggae singer, deejay, and producer.

Life and career
Thompson adopted the Rastafarian faith at an early age. He honed his talents on local sound systems such as Coxsone Dodd's 'Downbeat' and 'Lord Tippertone', and started to record very young under various names (Winston Price, Winston Cool, Ital Winston, or Youth Winston). His first recordings were for Lee "Scratch" Perry and Bunny Lee - "Place Called Africa Version 3" and "Maccabees Version". He returned to Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1976, recording the DJ portion of Devon Irons' 12" "Ketch Vampire". Between 1971 and 1977 his singles were unreleased outside Jamaica, only being available in the UK on import. He built his reputation with tunes such as "Oil Crisis" (versioning Horace Andy's "Ain't No Sunshine", originally by Bill Withers), "Sons of Thunder", (toasting over Jackie Brown's "Wiser Dread"), "Gimme Mi Gun" on Gregory Isaacs' "Thief a Man" and "Poison Flour", on a recut of The Paragons "Man Next Door" rhythm. He achieved more stable success and renown in the mid to late 1970s, with his best-known album being Best Dressed Chicken in Town (1978), a Greensleeves Records collection of tracks recorded in the mid-1970s, featuring Alimantado toasting over singers such as John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, Jackie Edwards and Horace Andy. His tunes mixed his Rastafari movement beliefs with commentary on events then going on in his community; "Poison Flour" referenced a January 1976 incident when 79 people in Jamaica were acutely poisoned by consuming flour, contaminated by leakage of the insecticide parathion in a ship's hold. Some reports at the time attributed the contamination to the two products being in the same delivery truck. In total, 17 victims died. In 1978, he appeared as himself in the film Rockers, directed by Ted Bafaloukos. Alimantado became popular with punk rockers in the 1970s following Johnny Rotten praising him in an interview. He was mentioned in the 1979 song "Rudie Can't Fail" by The Clash in the line "Like the doctor who was born for a purpose". He recorded "Born for a Purpose" in 1977 at Channel One Studios, one of Alimantado's biggest hits (along with "A Place Called Africa"). "Born for a Purpose" was originally released on his Vital Food label, and told of his Rastafarian faith supporting him after a bus hit him in Kingston on 26 December 1976, causing serious injuries. Bim Sherman provided backing vocals on the track. The musicians who played on the record did so without payment. The single, and its accompanying version "Still Alive" were released in the UK firstly as two 7" 45s, then as a 12", featuring the full extended mixes. By 1977, he had largely abandoned his toasting style, apart from occasional records such as "Go Deh Natty Go Deh" on a heavily dubbed mix of Delroy Wilson's "Trying to Conquer Me", preferring to release singing tunes, including "Mama (I Thank You)", "Jah Love Forever", and a cover of Billy Stewart's "Sitting in the Park". Following the success of Best Dressed Chicken and its follow-up compilation Sons of Thunder he signed to Virgin Records as a singer. While not without vocal talent, his singing records never captured the public imagination to the extent that his "toasting" records did. His last recording appears to be "Stop Your Fighting" for the Mad Professor's Ariwa label, on a Channel One Studios remake of Horace Andy's "Fever" rhythm. The film Hancock used the song "Best Dressed Chicken in Town". 2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the issue of Best Dressed Chicken in Town. To mark the occasion, Alimantado re-released the album in its original sleeves with a bonus DVD on his own Keyman Records label.

Credits & Appearances (9)

Production
Producer 1
Artist Album Release Type Label Rec Rel
Rastafari Bible Prince Hammer Rastafari Bible PRP 005 CD Patate 1976-82
Technicians
Engineer 1
Kings Bread
Ital Sounds • 1979
Artist Album Release Type Label Rec Rel
Kings Bread Dr. Alimantado Kings Bread ISDA 5000 LP Ital Sounds 1979 1979
Musicians
Vocals 5
Artist Album Release Type Label Rec Rel
Best Dressed Chicken In Town Dr. Alimantado Best Dressed Chicken In Town GREL 1 LP Greensleeves 1973-76 1978
Kings Bread Dub Dr. Alimantado Kings Bread Dub ISDA 5001 LP Ital Sounds 1979 1979
Sons Of Thunder Dr. Alimantado Sons Of Thunder GREL 22 LP Greensleeves 1981 1981
Reggae Review Part 1 Dr. Alimantado Reggae Review Part 1 KM 002 LP Keyman 1985 1985
Wonderful Time Dr. Alimantado Wonderful Time KM 006 LP Keyman 1986

Also Appears On (26)

Artist Album Release Type Label Rec Rel
Studio First Various Artists Studio First SOR 020 CD Studio 1 2020
Essential Lee Perry Various Artists Essential Lee Perry METRCD 562 CD Union Square Music 196X-7X 2005
High Explosion Various Artists High Explosion TJDDD 085 CD Trojan 1970-76 2003
Out Of Many, The Upsetter Various Artists Out Of Many, The Upsetter CDTRL 297 CD Trojan 1970-86 1991
Africa's Blood Various Artists Africa's Blood TBL 166 LP Trojan 1971 1971
The Trojan Albums Collection Lee Scratch Perry & The Upsetters The Trojan Albums Collection TJDCD 565 CD Trojan 1971-73 2017
Wonderman Years Various Artists Wonderman Years TJDDD 052 CD Trojan 1971-76 2002
Bridge Over Troubled Waters Jimmy London Bridge Over Troubled Waters DBCDD 070 CD Doctor Bird 1972 2021
Version To Version Vol 1 Various Artists Version To Version Vol 1 TBL 182 LP Trojan 1972 1972
Open The Gate Various Artists Open The Gate PERRY 2 CD Trojan 1974-76 1989
If Deejay Was Your Trade Various Artists If Deejay Was Your Trade BAFCD 001 CD Blood And Fire 1974-77 1994
Disco Devil Lee Scratch Perry & Friends Disco Devil UMC 9802 CD Trojan 1975-79 2012
Rasta Have Ambition Various Artists Rasta Have Ambition LALP 011 LP Live And Love 1976 1976
Straight To Babylon Chest Various Artists Straight To Babylon Chest LALP 06 LP Live And Love 1976 1976
Baffling Smoke Signal Various Artists Baffling Smoke Signal CDHB 252 CD Heartbeat 1976-78 2002
Arkology Various Artists Arkology CRNCD 6 CD Island 1976-79 1997
From Dubplate To Download Various Artists From Dubplate To Download GREZCD 4011 CD Greensleeves 1977-07 2007
Disco Devil Vol. 2 Lee Scratch Perry Disco Devil Vol. 2 STU16LP 004 LP Studio 16 1977-78 2019
Disco Devil Vol. 4 Lee Scratch Perry Disco Devil Vol. 4 STU16LP 006 LP Studio 16 1977-79 2020
Forward Various Artists Forward GREL 60 LP Greensleeves 1977-82
Reggae Jam Various Artists Reggae Jam LP 940.813 LP Greensleeves 1979 1979
Step Forward Youth Various Artists Step Forward Youth VPGS 7059 CD Greensleeves 197X 2018
The Upsetter Box Set Various Artists The Upsetter Box Set PERRY 1 LP Trojan 197X 1985
Trojan DJ Box Set Various Artists Trojan DJ Box Set TRBLP 004 CD Trojan 197X 2001
Trojan Rockers Box Set Various Artists Trojan Rockers Box Set TJETD 338 CD Trojan 197X 2006
Trojan Roots and Culture Box Set Various Artists Trojan Roots and Culture Box Set TJETD 226 CD Trojan 197X-8X 2005
9 albums
9 credits
4 labels
1978 - 2004